India Beats Australia In Twenty20 International At MCG

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 29: Shaun Marsh of Australia enters the field of play during the International Twenty20 match between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 29, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images)

You could blame the players for Australia's 27 run loss to India in the second Twenty20 International on Friday night at the MCG, which means that Australia has now lost this three match series.

You could blame the batsmen for failing to capitalise on a decent start by the Australian openers which included an assured 74 off 48 balls from skipper Aaron Finch.

You could blame the bowlers for never really looking threatening, despite a handy spell from 29-year-old Perth Scorchers paceman Andrew "AJ" Tye, who took 1/28 on debut as India amassed an imposing 3 for 184 batting first.

You could also blame selectors, whose proverbial axe is dripping in blood after they made six changes to the team which lost the first match of the series earlier this week. Who can remember the last time more than half an Australian team was dropped after one match in any sport?

But perhaps the main villain here is the faceless administrator who draws up the Australian cricket schedule. Here's what we mean by that.

Earlier this week, Huffington Post Australia reminded you that Australia had not hosted a T20 International since November 2014. Two entire seasons of Big Bash cricket had taken place since then, unearthing much local talent. But who was our best international combination? We hadn't a clue.

Friday night's player overhaul was a reflection of the selectors' need to find our best unit, and find it fast. But two of the six team changes were forced, due to the departure of Dave Warner and Steve Smith, both of whom are en route to New Zealand for the Test and One Day series across the ditch.

There's your villain. Be angry at the person who decided to overlap a Twenty20 International Series in Australia with an international series in NZ. Because of the schedule clash, Australia's two best batsmen were unavailable.

India, meanwhile, has had its strongest squad in Australia. Virat Kohli in particular is playing so beautifully you'd almost cheer for him if he wasn't such a surly thing. With the World T20 looming in March, India is taking these matches extremely seriously. Australia, by contrast, still seems to be jamming rather than fine-tuning.

The third match is in Sydney on Sunday night, at which time we'll find out whether the Shaun Tait recall was an experiment that lasted only one match, and whether the recalled Usman Khawaja -- who has been Australia's best batsman in all formats this year -- will make a difference to the team.

Aaron Finch will be unavailable for Sunday's match due to a hamstring twinge suffered on Friday night. It's just a shame Dave Warner and Steve Smith also can't play for the Australian cricket team because they're too busy playing for the Australian cricket team.

Meanwhile the Southern Stars women's team also lost to India on Friday night, meaning they've also lost the series 2-0.

Led by Meg Lanning's 49, Australia made 8 for 125. Rain then intervened and India won under the Duckworth-Lewis system, the intricacies of which no one really understands, but which seemed fair enough on this occasion as India was 0 for 69 off nine overs.